Chapter 84: Four Shops
Two days later, on a high-speed train.
"Passengers, the train has arrived at XX Station. Please gather your belongings..."
As the overhead announcement sounded, Su Xiao, who had been dozing in his seat, opened his eyes.
After returning to the real world, the ferocity and sharpness in Su Xiao's eyes had vanished. He had realized that the real world was safe most of the time, and blending in as an ordinary person among the crowd was the best choice.
"Bubu, we're here..."
Su Xiao started to speak, then remembered that high-speed trains didn't allow 'pets' on board. Bubu Wang had already been checked in as cargo. Recalling the check-in scene, he couldn't help but smile.
Getting off the train, Su Xiao headed straight for the cargo car.
When he met Bubu Wang with his ticket and ID, the dog looked utterly defeated. This goofball got motion sickness.
Leaving the station, Su Xiao let Bubu Wang out of the crate. He looked at the bustling crowd in front of the station. The scene was familiar, and for a moment, he felt a wave of emotion.
Last time, he had fled from this city, wanted by the police. Now, returning, he had a legal identity. Fate was truly strange.
He knew this city well, having grown up here. He walked straight to a corner of the station, where several 'private cars' were parked by the roadside.
These weren't private cars; they were unlicensed taxis, preying on out-of-towners who couldn't use ride-hailing apps or find regular cabs.
Su Xiao got into the passenger seat of one car. Bubu Wang jumped into the back.
"Hey, my car doesn't take dogs, you see..."
"Guangming Road. Add ten bucks."
"Twenty-five total."
The driver started the engine, his expression unchanged. He could tell from Su Xiao's accent that he was a local. With the ten-buck surcharge, twenty-five wasn't much.
The reason Su Xiao sought out this kind of unlicensed cab was mainly because of Bubu Wang. Regular taxis wouldn't carry pets, but these unlicensed ones were different. As long as you paid, they'd carry anything, not just pets.
The car slowly pulled away. Though the city wasn't small, it wasn't bustling. There weren't many cars on the streets, so traffic was smooth.
The unlicensed driver sat in the driver's seat. Su Xiao rolled down the passenger window, took out a cigarette, and lit it.
"Thanks, little brother, but I'm not used to your fancy smokes."
The driver declined the cigarette Su Xiao offered, smiled, and helpfully pulled out the ashtray, which was full of butts.
"Little brother, just got back to town, huh?"
"Yeah, just arrived."
Returning to his hometown put Su Xiao in a good mood, so he chatted with the driver.
"Little brother, working out of town?"
The smell of smoke in the cab triggered the driver's craving. He also took out a cigarette and started puffing away.
"Not working. Escaping from the police."
"Hahaha."
Hearing Su Xiao's words, the driver burst into laughter.
"Little brother, you're funny. Looking at your face, you don't seem like a fugitive at all. To be honest, I once actually gave a ride to a wanted criminal. I didn't know the guy was a murderer until he got out. The look in his eyes... tsk tsk."
The driver shook his head, still shaken by the memory.
"Oh? What kind of look?"
Su Xiao flicked his ash, smiling at the driver.
"You wouldn't understand. It's that kind of... how should I put it... hmm, hard to describe."
The driver put on a worldly-wise expression, as if recalling unpleasant memories.
Bubu Wang, hearing the conversation from the back seat, couldn't help but roll his eyes. His look seemed to say, "Driver, compared to the guy in the passenger seat right now, that murderer was as cute as a kindergartener."
"Little brother, the city's been a bit unstable lately, especially on Guangming Road where you're going. If you weren't born and raised there, it's best to avoid it. That street's been swept for prostitution and gangs many times, and it's in a remote area. Our small border town only looks safe on the surface. I heard a gray force has risen on Guangming Street. The boss is called Bu Qing..."
"Bu Qingsheng?"
Su Xiao flicked his cigarette butt away.
"Yeah, yeah, that's him. That guy isn't really black, at most gray. These days, black doesn't last long; only gray survives. This guy's got a lot of power now. Little brother, you know him?"
"Heard of him."
Su Xiao had met the Bu Qingsheng the driver mentioned once before. The last time he saw the guy, he was kneeling in front of Su Xiao. The reason was that the guy, drunk, had brought a woman to trash Su Xiao's shop. Back then, filled with hatred, Su Xiao was ready to chop off his head and dispose of the body. He even had body bags ready. The guy had pissed his pants in fear.
Chatting with the driver, the car stopped in front of a shop at the end of Guangming Street.
The shop was in a remote location, its door tightly locked. The rolling shutter door was plastered with ads.
Paying and getting out, Su Xiao stood in front of the closed shop. This was the store he had opened before, a cover for his identity.
As a cover, foot traffic couldn't be high, so Su Xiao had opened an accessory shop, specializing in red sandalwood ornaments, amber ornaments, jade items, and the like.
Su Xiao sold genuine goods, and high-end ones at that, so the prices were enough to shock anyone. An 8600 yuan small-leaf red sandalwood bracelet was just a regular item in the shop.
With prices like that and the shop's small size, it was easy to guess that from opening day until now, Su Xiao had never sold a single item.
At first, there were occasional customers, but after six months, basically no one came. The neighboring wreath and funeral supply shop did better business than his.
Speaking of the neighboring shops, one had to mention Su Xiao's eye for location and the feng shui of this accessory shop.
To the left of the accessory shop was a wreath and funeral supply shop. To the right was a flower, bird, fish, and insect shop. Across the street stood an antique shop.
The business of all four shops was abysmally poor. It was like they were all saying, "I'm not going out of business. Let's see who dies first!"
This street was in a remote area. At the end of the street, there wasn't even a road anymore, just the suburbs. As a 'dead end,' there was little traffic. Unlike the noisy city, it was quiet here, more suitable for living.
Because of this, opening a shop here meant business was bound to be terrible. Various shops had come and gone, one batch after another. Only these four shops had stubbornly persisted here. The accessory shop had been closed for a while, but now it was alive again.
Once, a bored tabloid reporter came to interview these four 'nail house' shops, but failed.
The wreath shop owner's reply was: "Scram."
The flower, bird, fish, and insect shop: "Go cool off somewhere else."
The accessory shop (Su Xiao): "No time."
The antique shop: "... (Staring intently at the female reporter's chest. The reporter was scared off, nearly calling the police.)"
But the female reporter didn't give up. She started staking out the four shops. In her view, this might be a news story. The people running these shops might not be good people.
And the female reporter discovered something shocking. In an entire day, the total foot traffic for the four shops was two. That was two old men buying fish food. This made the reporter even more curious. How did these four shops sustain themselves?
Su Xiao knew how the four shops sustained themselves. His accessory shop didn't need business because he wasn't short on money.
The neighboring wreath shop was run by a middle-aged fat man. That guy was a con artist, a 'feng shui master.'
The flower, bird, fish, and insect shop had some background. That guy secretly sold weapons online: crossbows, restricted knives, and the like. Guns, of course, weren't available. No one dared to sell guns so openly.
As for the antique shop across the street, that old man was a 'soil rat.' A 'soil rat' was a grave robber.
This was even more interesting. The four shops were run by: a killer, a con artist, a weapons dealer, and a grave robber. Three of the four were fugitives, and the con artist and the weapons dealer were even brothers.
Standing outside the rolling shutter door, Su Xiao took out a set of keys. Just as he was about to insert the key into the lock, he was surprised to find the keyhole was blocked. Next to it was a small ad: 'Locksmith: Call 159xxxxxxxx.'